Bay Area briefs

BOY, 6, KILLED BY RELATIVE'S DOG AT UNION CITY HOME: UNION CITY (AP) — A 6-year-old San Francisco Bay area boy died after he was attacked by a relative's dog, authorities said Tuesday.

The dog, described as a pit bull or pit bull mix, bit Nephi Selu of Dixon on top of his head around 11:30 a.m. Monday at his grandparent's home in Union City, police said.

A relative pulled the dog off the boy, Union City Police Cmdr. Ben Horner said. Emergency crews treated the boy at the scene and took him to Lucile Packard Children's Hospital in Palo Alto.

The boy later died from his injuries around 4 p.m. Monday at the hospital.

Family members told investigators the boy was playing with the dog and may have attempted to climb on its back when he was attacked, Horner said.

The dog was taken to a local animal shelter for a routine, 10-day quarantine, Horner said. The dog was in compliance with his anti-rabies shots and licensing requirements, Horner added.

A "Beware of Dog" sign was posted on a fence next to the two-story, beige house, but neighbors who have seen the dogs out and about said they were always on a leash and gave no hints that they might be vicious.

"It's such a shame," neighbor Arthur Kouns, 41, told the Bay Area News Group . "The dogs always appeared very friendly."

PLEASANTON. TEACHER CHARGED WITH CLASSROOM SEX ABUSE: PLEASANTON, (AP) — A decade after a conviction for possession of child pornography, a former elementary school teacher from Northern California has been charged with the classroom sexual abuse of a second-grade boy 15 years ago.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports Tuesday (bit.ly/13RdPSY) that Alameda County prosecutors have charged 63-year-old Michael Schoop with four counts of sodomy. Prosecutors say the abuse occurred in 1998 and 1999 at Mission Valley Elementary in Fremont.

Schoop was arrested last week after asking authorities to determine he'd been rehabilitated since his 2003 child porn conviction. Investigators say while looking into that request they found evidence that led to the new charges.

Schoop is being on $410,000 bail. A phone message left by The Associated Press at a number listed in his name was not immediately returned.